In our weekly roundup of Muslim news, reporter Omar Sacirbey tells us Toronto’s Beth Avraham Yosef Congregation, one of Canada’s largest Orthodox congregations, is rolling out the welcome mat for Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, both listed as hate bloggers by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Ephraim Mirvis will replace Lord Jonathan Sacks as the Chief Rabbi of England. The BBC has a profile. Rumor has it Prince Charles will attend the installation. Stay tuned for more.

And with that, it’s off to the long Labor Day weekend. Before you head off, you must read Adon Taft’s piece about the religious roots of organized labor. This veteran religion reporter, now retired, says unions were strongest when they were buttressed by institutions of faith that provided theological arguments in support of the working poor. So far, secularism can’t light that candle.

Here at RNS, we keep the tradition going. We’re taking a break from our Roundup labors on Monday. But sign up below and catch up on all you missed in Tuesday’s installment.

zappa912

Enough with the just war talk about Syria. Neither side comes in with clean hands in this conflict. I pray that the US does not become involved in Syria. Despite the use of chemical weapons by Assad’s military, that killed and injured thousands, our military involvement will do nothing except result in more death and misery. In addition, it will add fuel to the hate preached by groups like al-Queda that the US is evil and needs to be punished by more violence. This is a no win situation for the US. We should stay out of the conflict, and do everything we can to get the parties to reach a peaceful settlement. Our diplomatic power should be asserted, not our military power.